Alastair Cook will sit out England's upcoming tour of West Indies

Alistair Cook has confirmed he will not be going on England's limited-overs tour of West Indies in February and March.

Last Updated: 27/01/14 8:34am

Cook has opted to miss the tour, which also includes three Twenty20 fixtures, as England look towards World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March and April.

Cook oversaw a 4-1 series defeat to Australia after losing the final game on Sunday by five runs in Adelaide.

That followed an Ashes whitewash, and after the third one-day loss in Sydney Cook appeared to be considering his future as skipper in both formats.

He has since said he is "desperate" to stay on, but said for tactical reasons he would be giving the Caribbean tour a miss in order for Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad and limited-overs coach Ashley Giles to hone their preparations for the Bangladesh tournament.

Asked if he would be captain against the West Indies, Cook told Sky Sports: "No I won't be. The Twenty20 guys have got their World Cup in Bangladesh and I think we see it as a great six weeks for them to start building the team.

"They're never together very often and it gives them, and Broady and 'Gilo' time, to really have six weeks together to build for Bangladesh."

Asked when he would meet team director Andy Flower and new England managing director Paul Downton to discuss his future, Cook added: "I fly home on Monday, and when I get home over the next week or so I'm sure there will be meetings to have."

Cook had revealed earlier in the ODI series he was considering his future but said after the defeat in Adelaide that had been an emotional response.

He said: "Emotionally it was a tough day for me towards the end. I just spoke very honestly and maybe I shouldn't have done because it's caused a lot of kerfuffle about it."

Asked if he had full confidence in Cook as one-day captain, Giles said: "Absolutely. We are standing here and we realistically could have won the series.

"We could have won it 3-2. That's not all down to the captain."

On the West Indies tour, Giles added: "The plan is we are playing three one-day games there but with the T20 World Cup we are probably going to pick a T20 squad which gives us a good preparation time running into Bangladesh. It's likely that Stuart Broad will captain that side."

Tough

Australia captain Michael Clarke suspected that Cook and his England team-mates were ready to go home, but shied away from suggesting they would be permanently scarred by their winter defeats.

"I don't know the answer to that question," he said. "There will be a few English players keen to get on that plane tomorrow that's for sure - and keen to get away and spend some time away from the game.

"I know what it feels like to lose a series as a captain. It's certainly tough and you take it to heart and you take it quite personally. I'm sure Cookie will be looking forward to getting home and having a break.

"They're a good team and he's a good player. I've no doubt that the next time we come up against England they will be as tough as always.

"That's the one thing I do know. They're always tough in any form of the game. If you take them lightly they'll run over you."

Victory moved Clarke's team back to the top of the one-day rankings - on Australia Day - and the captain believes that was just reward after snatching victory away.

"That's as satisfying a win as we've had recently as a one-day unit," he said. "Winning tonight shows the confidence we have. We still have a few players out resting. We believe we can win no matter what position we are in.